The best gaming laptops - February 2018

Gaming laptops are lighter and thinner than ever, and these are the best.

Gaming laptops have come a long way in recent years. No longer is a massive jet engine or two required to cope with the heat output of mobile graphics chips. As such, notebooks have slimmed down considerably to offer desktop-class graphics in an actually-portable form factor.

This is thanks in large part to Nvidia's Pascal GPUs. The 10-series of graphics cards are more powerful and efficient than ever. With higher clockspeeds and lower temperature output than previous generations, it's now possible to pack GTX 1060 and 1070 GPUs into laptops that measure around or sometimes less than an inch thick. Even better, those 10-series cards aren't tuned-down mobile variants but rather every bit as powerful as their desktop counterparts. Taking things a step further, Nvidia's new Max-Q design philosophy does sacrifice a bit of performance to get power draw even lower. These systems are thin, light, and quiet, yet still powerful. You'll find our favorite pick in that category here, and we have a dedicated Max-Q buying guide as well.

Just as impressive, laptop screens are getting closer and closer in feature set to their desktop counterparts. Features such as high refresh rates, 1440p or 4K resolutions, and G-Sync technology are no longer limited to the tabletop form factor. And perhaps best of all, a modest combination of these features and performance can be had at non-insane price points.

In testing for this guide, we called in a literal stack of gaming laptops from various hardware manufacturers. We limited our overall choice to laptops featuring a GTX 1070 GPU, as systems with that spec have the best balance of performance, features, and price for most gamers, while the the budget category was limited to laptops featuring a GTX 1060 GPU. For slim Max-Q systems, we've focused on the more reasonably-priced GTX 1070 variants, but will be evaluating GTX 1080 Max-Q systems soon.

The best gaming laptop

Well-balanced combination of hardware

120Hz G-Sync display

Reasonable price tag

Poor battery life

Asus's ROG Strix GL502VS is the best gaming laptop for most users. It combines a robust feature set with a decent build quality in a not-gigantic form factor, all at a reasonable price.

I'm a big fan of the 15-inch laptop form factor. It's large enough to give you the screen real estate needed to play games without squinting, but not so large (looking at you, 17-inchers) that it requires a special gaming laptop backpack. In other words, it's the form factor that lets a portable gaming machine actually be portable.

The ROG Strix GL502VS fulfills that promise of portability. Measuring only 1.18 inches (30mm) thick, it's one of the thinner GTX 1070 laptops we tested, being beaten only by the X5 v6 from Gigabyte's Aorus division. There was a lot we liked about the X5 v6—not the least of which was its super-svelte frame—and in another world it might be our top pick, but it was held back by questionable build quality and a much higher price tag.

Like most of the laptops tested in this category, the GL502VS features an Intel Core i7-7700HQ CPU, 16GB DDR4 RAM, and a GTX 1070 GPU. Where it sets itself apart, aside from the form factor already mentioned, is in its display. Where most gaming laptops offer a 1080p G-Sync IPS screen, they are mostly held back by panels with a 60Hz refresh rate. The GL502VS steps things up with a 1080p "IPS-like" matte panel with a 120Hz refresh rate. Frankly, much of the GTX 1070's pixel-pushing power is wasted on a 60Hz screen, as it's more than capable of maintaining framerates well above 80 to 100 FPS at 1080p. With the GL502VS's 120Hz G-Sync screen, you aren't forced to choose between screen tearing and higher than 60 FPS.

Considering the similarity of internals, the laptops we tested scored relatively close in our benchmarking. Truth be told, the difference between the highest and lowest scores is small enough to be mostly negligible once you get into real-world usage. Even so, the GL502VS scored in the top of the class against similarly spec'd, more expensive laptops.

In my opinion, the GL502VS's chassis is a vast improvement over Asus's larger, more expensive G752VS laptop, the updated version of one of our past favorite laptops. The GL502VS has a more understated look that maintains a bit of the ROG brand's angular aesthetic while toning down some of the more aggressive styling—and in a smaller package to boot. Of course, the G752VS's size mostly comes from it's large rear vents, but in my testing the GL502VS's smaller size didn't limit it thermally in any noticeable way, and it comes in at a much more attractive price point.

For connectivity, the GL502VS has all the usual suspects: three USB 3.0 alongside one USB Type-C, as well as one each of HDMI and Mini DisplayPort for connecting to external monitors. Unfortunately, it's missing Thunderbolt 3 connectivity in the Type-C port, limiting transfers to 10Gbps instead of Thunderbolt 3's blazing-fast 40Gbps.

The other main drawback to the GL502VS is battery life: with only a 62 WHr battery, the power draw of the GTX 1070 means your time untethered from the wall is limited to only an hour or two, even if you aren't gaming. Having said that, the lack of battery life is more than made up for when considering the GL502VS's price. At $1,699, it's hundreds of dollars cheaper than most GTX 1070 laptops. And while it's not the most portable—especially compared to the ultra-thin Razer Blade or the upcoming Nvidia Max-Q laptops—it's small enough for a normal backpack and light enough to not break your back. Of course, if you insist on more screen real estate, the 17-inch GL702VS is effectively the same laptop in a larger frame.

The best budget gaming laptop

Very attractive price

Solid 1080p performance

Great battery life

No G-Sync

For the budget category of this guide, I focused on gaming laptops with GTX 1060 GPUs in the $1,000 to $1,500 range. It's possible to find gaming laptops for under $1,000, but they usually hit that lower price point by scaling down to a GTX 1050 or 1050 Ti (or older-generation) GPU, which is significantly less capable at handling today's most demanding games. The GTX 1060, on the other hand, offers a nice price-to-performance ratio that works well for 1080p @ 60fps gaming.

Acer's Predator Helios 300 is the best budget gaming laptop for most users. Like others in the category, it features an Intel Core i7-7700HQ CPU, 16GB DDR4 RAM, and the aforementioned Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 GPU. The biggest variance between laptops tested is in the storage spec, build quality, and price. And like the GTX 1070 laptops tested for the overall best laptop category, most of the laptops here produced similar results in all of our benchmarking tests. In other words, performance-wise, there's very little difference between the various similarly-spec'd laptops in this price range. Here's how the GTX 1060 laptops fared against each other:

So if all the laptops performed similarly, what sets the Helios 300 apart? Two main things: battery life and price. Let's talk price first. I mentioned using a range of $1,000 to $1,500 for this category, but most of the laptops cost around $1,350. Save for one: the Helios 300, which is priced at $1,100 MSRP and widely available for $1,050. Considering the feature spec is almost identical to the Asus ROG GL502VM ($1,350) and MSI GE62VR Apache Pro ($1,400), the Helios 300 ($1,050) handily wins on price alone.

The only thing I found that the Helios 300 is missing, that might be worth paying an extra $250 for on the GL502VM, is G-Sync. The Helios 300's 1080p matte screen is nothing special—not as bright as a desktop IPS screen, but nowhere near as bad as the washed-out colors we've seen on some budget TN panels—but it gets the job done. Without G-Sync, though, you'll be dealing with screen tearing if your turn off v-sync and your framerate drops below 60fps. Having said that, the GTX 1060 will easily maintain 60fps with a few tweaked settings in pretty much any high-end game (remember that our fps benchmarks have settings cranked to the max, so a small tweak can easily get you the extra 10 or 20 fps needed to maintain 60). With that in mind, aiming for 60fps with v-sync on is a solid alternative to dealing with the price premium of Nvidia's G-Sync tech.

If price alone isn't enough to sway you toward the Helios 300, its superior battery life is another strong point. Almost all of the laptops I tested (both in this category and others) use only their dedicated graphics card, even during regular non-gaming use. This means the GPU is drawing power all the time, cutting battery life down to only one or two hours. The Helios 300, on the other hand, swaps over to integrated graphics during normal, non-gaming periods, improving battery life significantly. During normal browsing with brightness set to 50 percent, the Helios 300 lasted more than four hours without plugging in—long enough for back-to-back meetings or a medium-length flight. With power saving mode and lower brightness, you can probably boost that to six hours or more.

The best Max-Q gaming laptop

Excellent performance

Incredibly portable

Outstanding battery life

Stiff and cramped keyboard

Panel only 60Hz, no G-Sync

Crappy webcam

The best Max-Q gaming laptop for most users is the Gigabyte Aero 15X-BK4. Featuring an Intel Core i7-7700HQ and Nvidia GTX 1070 Max-Q GPU, the Aero 15X is powerful enough to run most games at 1080p / 60fps or higher on ultra settings. It isn't the cheapest of the 1070 Max-Q laptops I tested, but it outperformed its competition and did so in a slightly-smaller form-factor.

Every Max-Q laptop I tested featured a 15.6-inch 1080p screen, though with varying features beyond that. What sets the Aero 15X apart, despite it only offering a refresh rate of 60Hz (whereas many of the competition offer 120Hz screens), is its form factor. Max-Q systems value portability over all else, and the Aero 15X succeeds most of all there thanks to a 5mm screen bezel that lets the whole laptop measure in at a width of 14 inches (the size of a 15-inch MacBook Pro), compared to 15 inches for all of the competition.

Top to bottom: Gigabyte Aero 15X, MSI GS63VR Stealth Pro, Eurocom Q5

This slight difference in overall chassis size means the Aero 15X is not just thin and light, but also fits easier in a normal-sized backpack. For daily use I carry a canvas snap-closing backpack not at all intentioned for toting a gaming laptop. That inch-difference meant the Aero 15X fit cozily inside my backpack, while its primary competition—MSI's GS63VR Apache Pro, and Eurocom's Q5—both poked their corners out a bit. If you care about portability above all else, the Aero 15X reigns supreme.

But what about performance? The Aero 15X delivers in that regard as well. With a near-identical internal spec, the systems we tested produced similarly near-identical gaming and productivity benchmarks. Even so, the Aero 15X scored the highest marks (though by a narrow margin) in almost every one of our tests. The Max-Q variant of the GTX 1070 is powerful enough to maintain 1080p 60fps in most games at or near max settings. In rise of the Tomb Raider, for example, the Aero 15X scored an average of 94fps across the game's three-part benchmark. In Overwatch, my framerate stayed well above 100fps using the ultra preset (but with dynamic reflections turned off).

For the latest, most demanding games, like Total War: Warhammer II and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands, the Aero 15X pulls in numbers a bit shy of 60 fps at 1080p ultra, but you can easily get that number above 60 with a few tweaks to the settings. Here's a comparison chart of the three systems, with the (non Max-Q) GTX 1070-powered Asus GL502VS—our overall pick for general best gaming laptop—as a reference point.

As you can see, the Max-Q systems offer performance slightly lower than their non Max-Q counterparts, but not by much. And when comparing Max-Q systems against each other, the Aero 15X edges out the competition.

What about productivity and other non-gaming tasks? The Aero 15X succeeds in that regard as well. It scored the highest marks (though again by a narrow margin) in Cinebench R15, 3DMark Fire Strike, and CrystalDiskMark Q32 Sequential Read, and a close second in PCMark 10 Express and CDM Q32 Sequential Write. Take a look:

Part of those higher scores, especially in the data transfer tests, is due to the Aero 15X's improved storage spec—the base spec that we're reviewing ships with a 512GB PCIe Gen3 x4 NVMe SSD with up to 3,200/1,700 MB/s Read/Write speeds—just shy of the speeds offered by the venerable Samsung 960 Pro (3,500/2,100 MB/s). This faster storage spec also accounts for some of the Aero 15X's higher price tag—the cheaper MSI GS63VR Stealth Pro features only a 256GB M.2 SATA SSD.

The Aero 15X is not without drawbacks. In addition to price, it also only offers a 60Hz screen, whereas MSI's offering, as well as many non Max-Q systems, come at 120Hz. Additionally, none of the GTX 1070 Max-Q systems I tested offered G-Sync (though it is available on the more expensive GTX 1080 Max-Q systems).This was a bit of a hard pill to swallow, especially coming from a desktop setup where we recommend gaming at 144Hz or higher, ideally with G-Sync. But 60Hz is not the end of the world, especially since that marks a lower bar for the Max-Q GTX 1070 to hit in order to maintain a tear-less visual experience.

In addition, the Aero 15X's wide-view panel comes with X-Rite Pantone certification, making it one of the best looking of all the systems tested. However, the 5mm bezel on the screen means the webcam is relegated to below the display, similar to the Dell XPS 13. It's not a great angle for streaming or even video conferencing, and the picture quality isn't great either.

The one other issue I found with the Aero 15X is its keyboard. The keys feel slightly stiff, and are slightly closer together than some chiclet keyboards—likely due to squeezing a full-size keyboard into the laptop's 14-inch width. The stiffness of the keys felt a bit unnatural to type on at first, causing me to make more typing errors than usual, but it's the kind of thing that one would get used to over time, such as making the switch from a membrane to mechanical keyboard, or from one type of key switch to another.

Finally the Aero 15X has one more coup de grâce in this battle of portable performance: battery life. It features a 94Wh battery (compared to 51 and 60 Wh for MSI and Eurocom's systems). In practice, this resulted in all-day battery life for working and internet browsing. As an added bonus, the Aero 15X's power brick is lighter and more compact than most, and has a built-in USB port for charging other devices.

Despite the slightly higher cost, Gigabyte's Aero 15X delivers the performance promised by Nvidia's Max-Q philosophy in the most portable form factor. It's smaller, lighter, and offers the best battery life. Max-Q systems are more expensive and slightly less powerful than their non Max-Q counterparts, but the sacrifice in that regard is more than made up for by portability. The Aero 15X takes that a step further, as its compact form factor more than makes up for any shortcomings. All in all, it's a laptop that can play the latest games at or near max settings as well as truly function as a portable workstation—no matter if your workstation is a cubicle, office conference room, or couch.

How we test gaming laptops and others we tested

What makes one laptop more attractive than another in the eyes of a gamer? Is it light weight, for portability in between LAN parties? How about high-end hardware to facilitate the fastest frame rates? Surely connectivity matters. External displays, gaming peripherals and direct-attached storage can make you forget you’re even using a notebook. Or maybe value is what matters most. For a low-enough price, we’re all willing to compromise on graphics quality, right? Right?

Of course not, which is why the best builders cram in as much processing muscle as possible, even when money is tight. And at the top of the range, desktop-class components in mobile enclosures set new performance records with every generation.

Most of the laptops we tested for the overall best category offer similar internals: an Intel Core i7-7700HQ processor, Nvidia GTX 1070 GPU, 16GB DDR4 RAM, and a 1080p G-Sync screen. Similarly, laptops in the budget category feature an Intel Core i7-7700HQ CPU, Nvidia GTX 1060 GPU, 16GB DDR4 RAM, and a 1080p screen—though G-Sync functionality varied some. The main difference between models usually comes down to storage options, weight and dimensions, screen features, and of course, price. The similarity in components resulted in relatively similar benchmark scores, with the difference between lowest and highest scores not varying considerably.

We run the following tests to measure performance and productivity on gaming laptops:

Cinebench 15

Tech ARP x264 HD

CrystalDiskMark64 4K Read and Write

3DMark Fire Strike

PCMark 8 Creative

For gaming, we use the built-in benchmarks on Rise of the Tomb Raider, Far Cry Primal, and The Division. Tests are performed at 1080p using the highest available graphics preset, with V-sync and G-Sync disabled. All tests are run multiple times to ensure that thermal throttling doesn't occur. In the event that scores drop on subsequent tests, the lower (throttled) scores are used.

The competition

HP's gaming division Omen has a nice offering in the laptop space, focusing on top-tier graphics while cutting corners elsewhere to keep prices down. It's the most competitive with the GL502VS when it comes to price, actually coming in $100 cheaper when on sale for a similarly-spec'd system. It's also available with a 4K screen upgrade, if that's something you care about, but we recommend staying away from attempting 4K on a laptop, as running that high of a resolution in games requires much more graphical horsepower than the GTX 1070 can offer. We still like the GL502VS more than the Omen 17, as it comes in a 15-inch form factor and was the only laptop we tested to offer a 120Hz screen.

True to the company's namesake, the Alienware 15 (also available in 13 and 17-inch form factors) is the most gaming-focused in design of all the laptops we tested, with aggressive styling, bright LEDs along the panel, and a backlight behind the touchpad that gives it an eerie alien-like glow. It's also one of the bulkiest, especially for a 15-inch, weighing 7.8 lbs. It's an overall solid machine, held back by price—no doubt a premium you're paying for the Alienware name and styling—costing almost $300 more for a system spec'd similarly to the GL502VS.

I want to love the X5 v6, I really do. Gigabyte's gaming division Aorus has been ahead of the curve when it comes to thin-and-light portable powerhouses, and the X5 v6 laptop nearly delivers on that promise. At a glance, it has everything I want—It's an extremely powerful laptop in one of the smallest frames I've seen, and will probably continue to hold that title until the next-generation Max-Q laptops hit the streets later this year. Of course, its space-saving engineering comes with a price premium—at $2,249 (on sale), it's the most expensive GTX 1070 laptop we tested. Even so, the price might be worth it, as it ships with a gorgeous 3K (2880 x 1620) resolution screen—better than 1080p but not so demanding as 4K—and the form factor is really spectacular.

My main issue is the keyboard. I went through multiple test units of the X5 v6, and each time had an issue with the keyboard (which has full RGB backlight control, by the way). The first time, several keys suffered from an annoying double-tap problem, while the second unit's keyboard felt spongy in construction, and often wouldn't register keypresses. (And before you ask, yes, I was fully up-to-date with proper drivers.) A cursory search finds that I'm not theonly one with issues. YMMV, but QC seems to be an issue here.

Acer's Predator 17 laptop is more in competition with the larger G752VS I mentioned above, and at $1,899 it offers a compelling case. It's a solidly built laptop if you don't mind the heft (9.4 lbs) and the aggressive Predator styling, but it's not without problems. I experienced the same issue on two review units where the screen would flicker at lower brightness settings. This was mostly forgotten once I left the brightness near max, but distractingly annoying for times when I didn't want as much glow in a dark room or wanted to save on battery life. Like the Aorus's keyboard, I don't know how widespread the issue is, but it's something to keep in mind, especially since Acer has had QC issues with its displays in the past.

MSI's GT62VR comes from the school of bulkier laptop designs, though it's a clear improvement over MSI's older GT6 series from several generations back. It matches up well with the GL502VS in most areas, including the option for a 120Hz 1080p IPS panel. The catch is the panel isn't G-Sync enabled, but there are 1080p75 G-Sync and 4Kp60 alternatives—again, I'd steer clear of 4K. The RBG backlighting, aggressive red accents, and MSI's Dragon Army logo on the cover make this an obvious gaming notebook, which may not fit in so well in business meetings. Tipping the scales at 6.5 pounds, it's not the heaviest of the group, but but at 1.57 inches (39.8mm) it is one of the thickest. If you don't mind a bit of extra thickness or the gaming aesthetics, MSI offers a good alternative to Asus. The GT72VR 7RE Dominator Pro is an even larger notebook with otherwise similar specs and design language.

MSI's GE62VR Apache Pro brings a lot to the table. It's specs and performance are near identical to our winner, the Helios 300, but at a price several hundred dollars more expensive. The build quality is very similar, with a metal chassis and good-feeling touchpad. The one thing it offers that the competition lacks is a built-in Steelseries keyboard with per-key RGB lighting. But as it was competing in the budget category, the Helios 300's lower price ultimately won out. The GE62VR Apache Pro is a well made laptop, and very worth consideration if prices drop or you can find one on sale.

The ROG GL502VM-DS74 is the little brother of our top overall gaming laptop pick, the Asus ROG Strix GL502VS-DS71. The two laptops are virtually identical, save for the GL502VM's GTX 1060 in lieu of its big brother's GTX 1070. The lower-spec GPU also lets the GL502VM squeeze into a smaller frame, measuring less than an inch with the lid closed, making it one of the thinnest GTX 1060 laptops we tested. Also, like the GL502VS, it features Nvidia's G-Sync tech in the screen, though only with a 60Hz refresh rate. G-Sync is very worthy of consideration, but the extra price is hard to justify in this budget category.

The Razer Blade is a bit of a wild-card. Its internal spec features a GTX 1060 GPU, which puts it, performance-wise, in competition for the best budget laptop category. The only problem is that the Blade's greatest strength—it's a truly thin-and-light gaming laptop that looks and feels almost identical to a MacBook Pro—gives it a significantly higher price tag: just shy of $1,900 for the cheapest model. There's a lot to love about the Blade. It was by far the most portable of all the machines I tested, easily handling both my daily commute and multiple trips through airport security—a feat that rarely can be accomplished while still having a dedicated GPU. But it's not without concessions, too. The screen is only 60Hz and lacking G-Sync, a feature I would expect at that price point. It's also lacking a dedicated Ethernet port, though that can be solved by a USB dongle. Performance-wise, it offers similar results to other GTX 1060 laptops, though falling at the bottom of the pack—unfortunately also with some of the loudest fans. Having said that, I'm still a big fan. If you're looking for an ultrabook form factor with a dedicated GPU, the Blade makes a strong case.

MSI's Max-Q offering is one of the cheaper options available, retailing at $2,099 but able to be found for $1,975 on Amazon). Speccing similar to the competition, the base of the system is an Intel Core i7-7700HQ CPU and GTX 1070 Max-Q GPU, though it offers a smaller and slower SSD than the Aero 15X, but also comes with a 1TB HDD for additional storage needs. The GS63VR has the best-feeling keyboard, thanks to MSI's partnership with SteelSeries, and also offers a 120Hz screen that looks great. But with a chassis width of 15 inches, it feels bulky to carry, despite the rest of the system's thin and lightness. It also performed inexplicably poorly—by about 20 fps—in Rise of the Tomb Raider, despite bearing the same GPU as the competition.

Eurocom's entry in the Max-Q space is a bit of a weird one. Its barebones base spec starts at just $1,599—by far the cheapest of all the Max-Q systems I tested—but that also strips out most components (and the operating system). Once you start customizing the system to reach spec parity with the competition, the price quickly balloons to well above $2,000. The system I tested clocked in at $2,499, making it one of the most expensive.

Price aside, I wasn't terribly impressed with the Q5. It matches the Aero 15X in gaming and performance benchmarks, but also runs significantly hotter and louder than the rest of the systems. It does offer a 120Hz option for the screen, but only on a TN panel that doesn't look good at all. The Q5 is a good option if you value customizability above all, but we'd still much prefer the Aero 15X.

Future testing

There's a lot of gaming laptops out there, and we certainly didn't get the chance to test them all. We're currently testing high-end GTX 1080 laptops, as well as GTX 1080 Max-Q designs for maximum performance inside a minimal footprint. If you have a specific laptop you think we should evaluate, be sure to let us know in the comments.

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